Method of behavior therapy

ABSTRACT

A method of behavior therapy wherein a subsequent trial is automatically initiated after a variable time period determined by the duration of the previous trial.

United States Patent in] 3,728,588

Jones I 1 Apr. 17, 1973 METHOD OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY [56] References Cited [76] Inventor: Christopher Robin Jones, 21 New- UNlTED STATES PATENTS port Drive, Alcester, England 3,582,716 6/1971 Traina ..3l7/l41 S [22] Flled: Ju y 2, 1 3,384,790 5/1968 Holec ....317 141 8 x pp NO: 165,182 3,282,631 11/1966 MOSlnSkl 317/141 S Primary ExaminerJ. D. Miller Assistant ExaminerHarry E Moose, Jr.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Attorney-Holman & Stem July 31, 1970 Great Britain ..37,094/70 1 1 ABSTRACT A method of behavior therapy wherein a subsequent [52] US. Cl. ..3l7/14l S, 317/1485 B trial is automatically initiated after a variable time [51] Int. Cl ..H0lh 47/18 period determined by the duration of the previous [58] Field of Search ..317/141s 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures METHOD OF BEHAVIOR THERAPY This invention relates to behavior therapy apparatus.

Behavior therapy treatment takes the form of a series of trials, in each of which timed stimuli are presented to a patient and the reaction of the patient is either noted or recorded and correlated. In some instances it is a requirement that the interval between successive trials varies and the invention seeks to provide a convenient manner in which this can be achieved.

Accordingly, the invention resides in behavior therapy apparatus of the kind used to control a series of the trials, the apparatus including means for governing the interval between one trial and the next subsequent trial so that the interval is determined by the duration of said one trial.

Preferably, said means for governing the interval between one trial and the next subsequent trial includes a timing circuit for producing a series of signals, control means operable in response to a signal from said timing circuit to initiate a trial, and switch means associated with said control means to prevent operation of said control means until the termination of a trial, whereafter a signal from said timing circuit initiates the next subsequent trial.

In the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of part of behavior therapy apparatus according to a first example of the invention, and

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of part of behavior therapy apparatus according to a second example of the invention.

Referring to FIG, 1, in a first example of the invention the apparatus includes a supply line 11 which is connected to the positve terminal of a do. source (not shown) and a supply line 12 connected to ,the negative terminal of the dc. source. Connected in series between the supply lines 11,12 are a resistor 13 and a capacitor 14, the junction of the resistor 13 and capacitor 14 being connected to one end of a resistor 15. The other end of the resistor 15 is connected to one contact of a pair of relay contacts 16, the other contact of the relay contacts 16 being connected to the supply line 1 1.

Also connected between the supply lines 11, 12 are a transistor 19. The transistor 19 then conducts and the capacitor 14 discharges through the resistor 22, the transistor 19 remaining conductive until the charge on the capacitor 14 is insufficient to supply the holding current of the transistor. The discharging of the capacitor 14 through the resistor 22 produces a triggering pulse at the gate of the thyristor 21 but the thyristor does not conduct since the contacts 24 are open.

The sequence is repeated until the trial being carried out by the apparatus terminates at which time the contacts 16 open and the contacts 24 close. At this time the capacitor 14 will be in a state of charge dependent pair of resistors 17,18 in series, the junction of the resistors 17,18 being connected to the gate of a programmable uni-junction transistor 19 as sold by the General Electric Co. The anode of the programmable uni-junction transistor 19 is connected to the one end of resistor 15, the cathode of the transistor 19 being connected to the gate of a thyristor 21 and through a resistor 22 to the supply line 12.The cathode of the thyristor 21 is connected to the supply line.12 and the anode of the thyristor is connected through a relay coil 23 to one contact of a pair of relay contacts 24, the other contact of the relay contacts 24 being connected to the supply line 11.

In use, when the apparatus is operating to commence a trial the pair of relay contacts 16 are arranged to be closed and the pair of contacts 24 are arranged to be open. Thus the capacitor 14 is charged through the resistors 13,15 but mostly through the resistor 15 which has a lower resistance than the resistor 13. After a given time depending on the resistance of the resistors 13,15 the charge on the capacitor 14 reaches the breakdown voltage of the programmable uni-junction upon the point in the charging cycle at which the trial terminates. The capacitor 14 now continues to chage, at a-rate governed only by the resistance value of resistor 13 since the contacts 16 are now open, until the breakdown voltage of the programmable uni-junction transistor 19 is again reached. Now when the capacitor 14 discharges through the resistor 22 and a triggering pulse is produced at the thyristor 21 the thyristor will conduct so that current will flow between the supply lines 11,12 through the relay coil 23. The relay coil 23 is arranged so that, on energization, a further set of relay contacts (not shown) are closed so as to initiate the commencement of a further trial.

It is to .be appreciated that since the duration of any given trial will vary depending upon the nature of the trial and if human responses are involved in the trial, the timing of these human responses, the state of charge of the capacitor at the end of the trial and hence the time interval between the trial and the next subsequent trial will vary by an amount governed by the duration of said trial.

Further, it is to be appreciated that that resistor 15 having a lower resistance value than the resistor 13 is inserted in the circuit to reduce the time required for the capacitor 14 to charge when a trial is in progress. This is necessary since it is usual in behavior therapy to have a short trial duration, although it is desirable to have a large variation in the intervals between successive trials. However, to be able to obtain large variations in the inter-trial intervals it is necessary that the time taken for the capacitor 14 to be charged through the resistor 13 alone is large, it being appreciated that the capacitor 14 is charged through resistor 13 alone after a trial has terminated. Hence the resistance'value of resistor 13 must be large which means that if resistor 15 is absent from the circuit the time taken for the capacitor to be charged during a trial will become large compared with the time of the trial so that the effect of small variations in the times of the trials will only have a correspondingly small effect on the inter-trial intervals. However by switching the resistor 13 into the circuit during the period of each trial the time taken for the capacitor 14 to be charged through resistors 13,15 can be reduced to a'relatively small value compared with the duration of the trials even through the resistance value of resistor 13 necessarily remains large. In this way small variations in the times of the trials will have a considerable effect on the position in the charging cycle of the capacitor 14 at which the trials terminate and hence will have a large effect on the inter-trial intervals. It is to be appreciated, however, that in some cases it is possible that the resistor 15 could be omitted.

, In the above example the resistor is switched into the timing circuit constituted by the resistor 13 and the capacitor 14 by closure of the contacts 16 at the commencement of each trial. However, the contacts 16 need not necessarily be closed at the beginning of each trial and could be closed during the trial, although where one or more human responses are involved in the trial it is preferable that the resistor 15 is switched into the timing circuit before the human response occurs or before the first of a series of human responses occurs.

Referring to FIG. 2, in a second example of the invention, the apparatus includes a supply line 31 which is connected to the positive terminal of a do source (not shown) and a supply line 32 connected to the negative terminal of the source. Connected in series between the supply lines 31, 32 are a diode 33 and a pair of resistors 34, 35, a potentiometer 36 being connected in series between the pair of resistors 34, 35. To the movable contact of the potentiometer 36 is connected the base of a p-n-p transistor 37, the collector of the transistor 37 being connected through a capacitor 38 to the supply line 32 and the emitter of the transistor being connected through a resistor 39 and a variable resistor 41 to the supply line 31. The collector of the transistor 37 is also connected to the anode of a programmable uni-junction transistor 42 which in turn has its cathode connected to the gate of a thyristor 43 and through a resistor 44 to the supply line 32. The gate of the transistor 42 is connected to the junction of a pair of resistors 45, 46 connected in series across the supply lines 31,32.'The thyristor 43 has its cathode connected to the supply line 32 and its anode connected to the anode of a diode 47. The anode of the diode 47 is connected through a relay coil 48 to one contact of a set of relay contacts 49 and the cathode of the diode 47 is connected to the supply line 31 which in turn is connected to the other contact of the set of relay contacts 49. In addition, there is provided a further set of relay contacts 51, one contact of the set of contacts 51 being connected to the supply line 31 and the other contact being connected to the junction of the resistors 39,41.

In use, during a trial, the set of relay contacts 51 are arranged to be closed whereas the set of contacts 49 are arranged to be open. Further, the arrangement of the resistors 34,35,36 is arranged to be such that the transistor 37 is biased to conduction so that current flows through the collector-emitter circuit of the transistor to charge the capacitor 38 linearly with time through the resistor 39. In addition, by varying the position of the movable contact of the potentiometer 36 the conductivity of the transistor 37, and hence the current flowing through the resistor 39 can be varied so as to alter the rate of charging of the capacitor 38. As in the previous example, when the capacitor 38 reaches the breakdown voltage of the programmable uni-junction transistor 42, the transistor 42 conducts so that the capacitor 38 dishcarges through the resistor 44 to produce a triggering pulse at the gate of the thyristor 43, which nevertheless does not conduct since the contacts 49 are open. The transistor 42 remains conductive until the charge on the capacitor 38 is insufficient to supply the holding current of the transistor whereafter the sequence is repeated until the trial being carried out terminates, at which time the contacts 51 open and the contacts 49 close. At this time, the capacitor 38 will be in a state of charge dependent upon the point in the charging cycle at which the trial terminates. The capacitor 38 then continues to charge, at a rate determined by the resistance values of both of the resistors 41, 39, since the contacts 51 are now open; Charging of the capacitor 38 will continue, at a rate slower than the rate of charging during the trial, until the breakdown voltage of the transistor 42 is again reached. Now, when the capacitor 38 discharges through the resistor 44, and a triggering pulse is produced at the thyristor 43, the thyristor will conduct so that current will flow between the supply lines 31, 32 and through the relay coil 48. The relay coil 48 is arranged, so that on energization, a further set of relay contacts (not shown) are closed so as to initiate the commencement of a further trial. It is to be noted that, as in the previous example, the arrangement is such that the rate of charging of the capacitor 38 during the time of a trial is comparatively small, and in fact is arranged to be substantially smaller than the time of a trial, whereas the rate of charging of the capacitor 38 between trials is arranged to be comparatively large. Further it is to be appreciated that, as before, the contacts 51 need not necessarily be closed at the beginning of each trial but could be closed during a trial, although where one or more human responses are involved in the trial it is preferable that the resistor 41 is shorted out by closure of the contacts 51 before the human response, or the first of a series of human responses, occurs. Finally, it is to be appreciated that the diode 33 is provided in the circuit shown in FIG. 2 for temperature compensation.

I claim:

1. A method of behavior therapy wherein a subsequent patient trial is automatically initiated after a variable time period determined by the duration of the previous trial, said method comprising the steps of:

l. continuously generating a series of electrical signals at spaced timed intervals in a timing circuit;

2. providing an electronic control means to receive the series of electrical signals and to generate a control signal in response to a received electrical signal;

3. presenting a stimuli to the patient to initiate a trial in response to a control signal generated from the control means;

4. disabling the control means if the patient has not responded to the previously presented stimuli so as to terminate a trial; and

. reactivating the control means after termination of a trial so that the next subsequent signal from the timing circuit causes the control means to generate a control signal so as to initiate the presentation of a new stimuli and the commencement of a new trial.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the spaced time interval between the generation of an electrical signal when a trial is in progress and the generation of the subsequent signal after a trial is terminated is automatically lengthened. g

3. A method of electronically controlling the interval of time between the presentation of stimuli to a patient undergoing behavior therapy treatment said method comprising the steps of:

1. presenting a first stimuli to a patient;

2. electronically monitoring the interval of time control signal in response to a received electrical between the presentation of the first stimuli and signal; patient reaction thereto; and 3. presenting a stimuli to the patient to initiate a trial 3. automatically presenting a subsequent stimuli to in response to a control signal generated from the the patient after a variable time duration deter- 5 Controlmeans; mined by the previously monitored time interval. 4. disabling the control means during the period of 4. A method of behavior therapy, wherein a sub- Said "53150 as to tel'minateatrlal;and sequent patient trial is automatically initiated after a re'actlvatmg the control means after termlnatlon variable time period determined by the duration of the of a E i so h next Subsequent Signal from previous trial, said method comprising the steps of: 10 the tlmmg circuit causes the control Fl to l. continuously generating a series of electrical generate control 'f as to mltlate the signals at spaced timed intervals in a timing circuit; Presentatlon of new Stlmuh and the commence 2. providing an electronic control means to receive ofanew the series of electrical signals and to generate a 5 

1. A method of behavior therapy wherein a subsequent patient trial is automatically initiated after a variable time period determined by the duration of the previous trial, said method comprising the steps of:
 1. continuously generating a series of electrical signals at spaced timed intervals in a timing circuit;
 2. providing an electronic control means to receive the series of electrical signals and to generate a control signal in response to a received electrical signal;
 3. presenting a stimuli to the patient to initiate a trial in response to a control signal generated from the control means;
 4. disabling the control means if the patient has not responded to the previously presented stimuli so as to terminate a trial; and
 5. reactivating the control means after termination of a trial so that the next subsequent signal from the timing circuit causes the control means to generate a control signal so as to initiate the presentation of a new stimuli and the commencement of a new trial.
 2. providing an electronic control means to receive the series of electrical signals and to generate a control signal in response to a received electrical signal;
 2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the spaced time interval between the generation of an electrical signal when a trial is in progress and the generation of the subsequent signal after a trial is terminated is automatically lengthened.
 2. providing an electronic control means to receive the series of electrical signals and to generate a control signal in response to a received electrical signal;
 2. electronically monitoring the interval of time between the presentation of the first stimuli and patient reaction thereto; and
 3. A method of electronically controlling the interval of time between the presentation of stimuli to a patient undergoing behavior therapy treatment said method comprising the steps of:
 3. presenting a stimuli to the patient to initiate a trial in response to a control signal generated from the control means;
 3. automatically presenting a subsequent stimuli to the patient after a variable time duration determined by the previously monitored time interval.
 3. presenting a stimuli to the patient to initiate a trial in response to a control signal generated from the control means;
 4. disabling the control means if the patient has not responded to the previously presented stimuli so as to terminate a trial; and
 4. A method of behavior therapy, wherein a subsequent patient trial is automatically initiated after a variable time period determined by the duration of the previous trial, said method comprising the steps of:
 4. disabling the control means during the period of said trial so as to terminate a trial; and
 5. re-activating the control means after termination of a trial so that the next subsequent signal from the timing circuit causes the control means to generate a control signal so as to initiate the presentation of a new stimuli and the commencement of a new trial.
 5. reactivating the control means after termination of a trial so that the next subsequent signal from the timing circuit causes the control means to generate a control signal so as to initiate the presentation of a new stimuli and the commencement of a new trial. 